The Hobbit: Piper's Journey
by alisandra6
Summary: Piper, a feral girl who counts on her baser instincts to survive, was taken in by Bilbo years ago after he found he wandering in the forest, watch how the story changes as this unique girl joins them on their journey.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own, do not real this if you haven't seen the movie, I was lazy and didn't want to write out all of the dialog at the beginning, so you wouldn't understand.

Piper stared longingly out the window of the Bag-ends home. She had been taken in by Bilbo Baggins when she had wandered into the Shire many years before. She missed the dark forests and terrible misadventures that were bound to happen to anybody who stepped out of line. Her childhood had been spent running from wargs and narrowly avoiding giant spiders. The quiet life of the Shire did not suit her and left her with a heavy heart. Piper was not a Hobbit; in fact, she didn't quite know what she was at all. She did not have the bulky build that were shared characteristics between Hobbits and Dwarves, she had a slender, spindly build. She had neither the big and bold features of the Dwarves, nor the sharp pronounced features of an elf, rather she had small, delicate features. She was smaller than all Hobbits she knew, a fact which irked her to no end and her feet were small and hairless, a feature that made her most unattractive to most Hobbits. Her hair was long, growing all the way to the small of her back, and an inky black, she found it to be her most attractive feature.

Piper was lonely, nobody talked to her, she had no place to fit in in the Shire. But her sanctuary was the forest, where she was reared as a young babe. Piper had no knowledge of her parents; she figured they had left her in the forest to die. But she had made it all by herself, picking berries to survive when she was young, and gradually learning to hunt for her food. The wild instincts that came with growing up in the bloodthirsty forest were especially evident in Piper. Her canines were sharper than most, and her smell and eyesight were outmatched by few. She had never worn clothes in the forest, nasty things they were, but Bilbo had insisted it was proper, so she wore a very thin shirt that had only small straps to hold it up, and what had originally been pants were now reduced to very short shorts, anything else would get in the way of her hunting.

Bilbo passed her on his way outside, "Good morning! Won't you join me outside for my morning pipe?" Piper grunted as answer and slowly got up from her crouched position.

Bilbo chatted to her about sweet nothings as he enjoyed his daily pipe. The sounds of footsteps were heard from the hill approaching the house and Piper swiveled her head that way. Bilbo had long since grown used to Pipers odd ways and just ignored it. A tall old man was seen walking their way, he stopped right in front of them and Bilbo greeted him gaily. They shared in a pointless conversation while Piper pondered over the man's smell, it was tangy, a smell she associated with wizards, but not at all like the foul odor of the dark arts. He looked over at her as if he has just noticed her, "And who may you be?" he said in his deep, kindly voice.

When Piper said nothing for a few seconds, Bilbo said, "Oh that's just Piper, she doesn't say much."

"So it seems," he replied, "but in any case my name is Gandalf, at your service." Piper tilted her head curiously, but otherwise had no reply for him.

They once again shared in pointless banter and the sudden smell of fear was heavy in the air, it was coming from Bilbo and was presumably because of something Gandalf said, Piper whipped her head towards him and bared her teeth threateningly, Gandalf winced slightly.

"Come Piper, let us head inside." He hurried them to the door. Gandalf shouted something from behind them, causing Bilbo to hurry his pace. Once they were inside Bilbo stood nervously at the door as the sound of scratches were heard from the other side. He peered cautiously out the window and suddenly reared back as another face met his. He ran into the living room and collapsed against the well-worn couch that resided there. Piper ran her sharp fingernails through his hair to soothe him and he soon relaxed and fell into a light sleep. Piper left the room and ultimately the house as she went to go on a hunting trip, Piper could not stomach the cooked meats and vegetables that Bilbo seemed so fond of, but instead preferred raw meat, and any vegetables and berries she could scavenge for in the forest.

Piper carried a large wild boar in her hands on her way home, her stomach rumbled and her mouth watered as she anticipated her delicious dinner. While she much preferred the succulent meat of rabbits and deer, boar was a close second. As she neared Bag-ends, she her loud and obnoxious laughter from inside, but paid it no mind. It was not uncommon for Bilbo to have house guests over. She walked inside and was met with the sight of a table full of dwarves, not many had noticed her yet. A small growl was let out from her mouth as she saw someone sitting at her spot on the table, everyone in the whole shire knew not to sit at her spot. Bilbo finally saw her and began to sweat nervously, "Now Piper, Kili didn't know that was your spot, don't get mad." The dwarves seemed to have finally noticed her and the noise quieted slightly, but not completely. She stalked up to the one called Kili and knocked all of his plates off of the table, and roughly shoved him onto the ground.

"Hey!" he and the one sitting next to him yelled at the same time, but she paid them no mind as she slammed her boar onto the table and she sat down loudly. Promptly, she began to tear off all the skin of the boar with her sharp nails, nobody like hair in their meat, the whole table watched in morbid fascination as she began to wildly tear up the raw, bloody meat, and shove it into her mouth. Bilbo paid her no mind as he pulled up another chair for Kili.

"Sorry about that, she's a bit territorial about her spot at the table." He laughed awkwardly.

"Aw, pay it no mind," Kili said in good humor, he had seen stranger things.

Piper knew they were talking about her, but she didn't much care. "Piper," Gandalf grabbed her attention, "I'd like to introduce you Nori, Dori, Ori , Bofur, Balin, Bombur, Bifur, Gloin, Oin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, and Thorin Oakenshield, the dwarf king, and dwarves, I'd like you to meet Piper." She gave a grunt when loud "at your services" went around the room. Everybody soon finished up as Gandalf began to talk to Thorin. It was a serious matter and they talked in hushed voices, a key and map were exchanged from one man to the other. Bilbo was soon given a contract which he refused to sign, soon after he stormed off to another room, after he was insulted by Thorin. Piper walked after Bilbo and when she came up to Thorin's side she bumped roughly into him, raking her nails across his forearm as she went, leaving a thin trail of blood, he just looked at her with slight amusement as she passed. She huffed haughtily as she left the room and the rich sound of male laughter was left behind her.

The next morning came and Piper knew the men had already left. She was hoping that Bilbo would change his mind and go join the adventure, she would give anything to leave the shire, but she would always remain loyal to Bilbo, wherever Bilbo went, Piper went.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for all the support. I know that I don't update often, between each chapter I write, I'm usually hit with an intense bout of utter cluelessness, I can't find out what I want to write next. So with that, I will try to update every week. Give me ideas on what you think might happen next, even if I don't use them they really help me get the plot flowing smoothly and motivation to keep writing!

Piper easily kept up with the fast strides of Bilbo as he desperately sought to reach the company of dwarves. "Wait!" he shouted and showed them the signed contract, he was unceremoniously pushed onto the back of a pony, when some of the other dwarves looked at her curiously she huffed and scrambled, quite humorously, some noted, up the nearest tree.

"What of the girl?" Thorin questioned in his deep, resonating voice.

"Oh, Piper? Just leave her be, she'll follow us by herself." Although Piper had grown up in the wild, she had no affection for animals, she knew how soon one could turn on you given the need, so she had no intentions of climbing on the back of a pony, no matter how sweet and genteel it may seem.

"I won't be held responsible should she become lost or left behind" Thorin rumbled.

"She can take care of herself, I trust her with my life." Bilbo said.

"Yes, well dwarves can take care of themselves; they have no need for a woman to look after them." A loud roar of agreement went over the dwarves, and Bilbo flushed. Out of nowhere, a large, and rather spikey, pinecone came flying and smacked Thorin right on the forehead. Muffled guffaws ran over the company and a small smile graced Gandalf's face. Thorin glared out at the tree line as he could not find her presence anywhere.

When they stopped for the night Piper crawled out of a tree and dropped a few rabbits to the floor tiredly, she walked over to where Bilbo sat quietly on the ground near some other dwarves and dropped to the floor and placed her head in Bilbo's lap. He stroked her soft hair while her eyes began to slowly close. She didn't care that she wouldn't be able to eat the food, since she only ate raw meat, she ate her rabbit fresh, the moment she caught it, it was still alive as she began to dig in. With a belly full of warm blood, and exhaustion creeping in from running all day, sleep came easy. A howl soon woke her though, she immediately sprang up and sniffed the air, the others didn't seem to notice her as they teased Bilbo, so she ran into the forest.

Five minutes later found the dwarves telling the lone Hobbit the story of Erebor, and how Thorin came to be the way he was. Some of the dwarves curiously wondered how piper had come to be in his company.

"She was young, probably only 14 while I was already 30, I found her in the forest. I had gone in because I was looking for some wild mushrooms for my dinner, she was naked, not a stitch on her when I first saw her. She was so thin and emaciated that I took pity on her and asked her in to dinner, it came as no small surprise to me that she could not speak; she had never had anyone to speak to. It took a lot of coaxing, and godly patience to get her to come to my house. She couldn't eat the food or drink I gave her, she threw it all up (all over my mothers rug might I add), it soon became apparent to me that she could not eat anything cooked, so I gave her a rare steak and it was gone in less than a minute! I realized that she had no family, she had been thrown in the forest at a very young age, her family had probably not had enough money to raise her and had left her in the wilderness to ease their burden. I could not have possibly abandoned her again! So I took her in, I gave her a name, I taught her to speak, though admittedly she doesn't do it often. I gave her clothes, although she doesn't like them, one does not walk around the shire with no clothes, imagine the gossip! I taught her all there is to know about the civilized world, and overall, I gave her a family, even though it's just me and her, I feel like she is the younger sister I never had. Years have passed since then, time has changed her little, but I know that she has been longing to leave the shire, she is shunned there, she is no dwarf, nor hobbit, nor elf, nor child of man, nor any other recognizable race, she is part of the reason I left to go with you, I couldn't stand the scathing glances everyone threw at her any longer. "Bilbo ended his tale somberly.

Everyone threw pitying glances towards her resting place, or at least tried to, but there, in Pipers spot, was no one! Where had she gone to? Bilbo threw himself off the ground and searched the camp with a frenzy that only happens when a loved one is in trouble. For five minutes this search went on before some pushes from the north side parted and revealed a bloody piper, Bilbo ran faster than she had ever seen and began fretting over her, quite a few dwarves did as well. Although they didn't approve of a woman coming with them, they sure as hell didn't want her to be hurt either. When it was confirmed that very little of the blood covering her actually belonged to piper, she was asked what had happened.

"There were orcs close to camp, too close for comfort, so I took care of it." She stated simply. She began stripping her bloody clothes off, she didn't like wearing them anyway, she always felt better without them, in her natural state, Dwarves blushed and looked away, some, like Fili and Kili peeked though, when they thought nobody noticed.

"Piper! What have I told you about just stripping like that?!" Bilbo yelled angrily. "Sorry guys, she really has no sense of modesty."

Piper snorted, "What's modesty? Only a false belief that will get you killed. There's no sense to it really, I'd rather be like this, the way I was born, rather that hidden away under bundles of itchy cloth that only hinder me from protecting my life, besides, these clothes are soiled and I packed no more. I can't wear them until they are washed."

Thorin took the shirt from his back and handed it over to her, "I have a spare." He stated simply. Thorin had begun to understand her after he heard her tale; he understood her brutish, rude, and uncivilized ways. He pitied her, she, like themselves, had no place to call home. He left it simply at that.

Soon after they all went to bed, all pondering to themselves about different things, Thorin about his lost kingdom, and piper about Thorin. How warm and nice his shirt was, the well-worn material was soft enough to not bother her sensitive skin, and the smell was heavenly, like spices and man, for men carried a particular scent that could not be reproduced. Piper slipped off to sleep once more with her nose pressed into the fabric of her shirt, and a serene smile on her face.


End file.
